100-135mm Soft-Focus Lenses to "Barely" Cover 6x12cm??

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 10, 2014

I recently got the bug to buy some soft-focus lenses for 6x12cm. These will mostly be for landscape use. I bought 180mm and 250mm Fujinon SF lenses. The 250mm is here and is in quite nice condition... hoping for the same with the 180mm. I would have bought 200/300 Imagons but I can't spend that kind of money right now.

I'm looking for a shorter focal length, ideally in 120-130mm but don't know much about what's available in SF lenses. I want a post WWII coated lens in shutter.

I have on-hand a 105mm f/3.7 Ektar which will almost fill that need but, from what I've read, the far edges will be very blurry unless I crop to 6x9cm. Chris Perez' tests indicate it will "cover" 4x5" and is actually usable up to a 4.5" image diameter with definite loss of fidelity at the edges at f/5.6. At 4.9" the far edges on 6x12cm would be very soft... just something to keep in mind when composing. I'd prefer a slightly longer lens than 105mm anyway but it'll fill a void if I can't find a slightly longer lens to replace it.

Any suggestions for affordable coated post WWII soft focus lenses in 120-135mm FL... in shutter?

Dan Fromm · Aug 10, 2014

Old-N-Feeble said:
I have on-hand a 105mm f/3.7 Ektar which will almost fill that need but, from what I've read, the far edges will be very blurry unless I crop to 6x9cm. Chris Perez' tests indicate it will "cover" 4x5" and is actually usable up to a 4.5" image diameter with definite loss of fidelity at the edges at f/5.6. At 4.9" the far edges on 6x12cm would be very soft... just something to keep in mind when composing.

Ask Chris what he and Kerry did. I b'lieve that he shot a 105/3.7 Ektar on 4x5 film, measured resolution in a 2.25" x 3.25" rectangle centered in the negative. I've had two 105/3.7s, still have one. Both barely covered 2x3 and were less sharp than a 101/4.5 Ektar everywhere in the frame from f/4.5 down to f/22. This is consistent with Eric Beltrando's calculated performance.

Why do you want a lens that "barely covers" 6x12?

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 10, 2014

Thanks, Dan...

It's not that I want the lens to barely cover 6x12cm... my poor choice of verbiage. I gave that qualifier because every SF lens I've heard of has a fairly narrow image circle relative to its focal length but as with many lens designs will usually "illuminate" more than spec'ed albeit with degraded performance at the corners. Since the diagonal of 56x112mm is 125mm then a typical 100-105mm SF lens will probably "barely illuminate" to the corners. As usual, my attempt to keep things simple over-complicated instead.

RE the 105 Ektar: I do realize it's not a SF lens but rather has just a touch of CA at or near wide open. I've read many posts about this lens and realize it's not optimal given my "true" criteria... to comfortably cover 6x12cm. I'm just delaying sale of it until I can determine if it's the best option I've got. I think a 120mm Imagon was available in shutter but I doubt I'll find one anytime soon and it's likely to cost far more than I can afford.

I'm looking for other options in the "approx" 120-130mm FL... coated and in shutter.

Nokton48 · Aug 11, 2014

Well I can't speak about shuttered lenses, but I do own 120mm and 150mm Rodenstock Imagons in barrel mounts.
Pleasant soft focus, and probably adaptable to a shutter easily. Not sure if they would cover 6x12, though.

Probably worth investigating.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 11, 2014

Nokton48 said:
Well I can't speak about shuttered lenses, but I do own 120mm and 150mm Rodenstock Imagons in barrel mounts.
Pleasant soft focus, and probably adaptable to a shutter easily. Not sure if they would cover 6x12, though.

Probably worth investigating.

Thank you, Nokton48. You may be right about adapting a 120 Imagon to shutter. It might even screw right in but I can't remember what I've read about that. Even so, I've been looking and those in Leica mounts with unmarked glass are listed for over $1300. That's far more than I can afford at the moment. I haven't seen any in barrel lately.

Nokton48 · Aug 11, 2014

Yeah they tend to be pricey. As I remember I paid about $350 for my barrel Imagon 120mm on German Ebay. Full set brand new.

I just bought a 200mm barrel Imagon for $200 over there. Keep an eye out and you might find one with a weird mount on it

My 200mm was for the Mamiya RB-67 with a Zoerk Adapter on it.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 11, 2014

Okay, thanks. I opened a German eBay search page.

Nokton48 · Aug 25, 2014

I just picked up a 300mm Imagon in barrel (German Ebay) for the equivalent of about $400US.
Also included is a 120x120 Plaubel Board that I would value at about $50. So that's about $300
plus shipping for the lens alone. Actually not too bad IMO.

It's possible to find some deals but you must have a lot of patience.

Nokton48 · Sep 14, 2014

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rodenstock-...132?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d240abc4c

Old-N-Feeble · Sep 14, 2014

^^^ Thank you... added to my watch list.

paul ewins · Sep 14, 2014

Just a thought, you may be better off getting a cheap speed graphic to use with barrel lenses rather than look for lenses that can be mounted into shutters. This would also give you the opportunity to try out MF lenses like the P67 120/3.5 soft or the Mamiya RB67 150/4 variable focus. I haven't tested the 120 soft, but the P67 lens often illuminate a lot more than 6x7.

Old-N-Feeble · Sep 14, 2014

Thanks, Paul. That's a good idea but I'm trying to keep this down to just one camera... a Chamonix 4x5... and a shuttered lens is necessary for how I want to shoot. I've wondered about the P67 lenses but the adaptation concerns me. I know this isn't what you meant though.

paul ewins · Sep 15, 2014

Fair enough, it's all too easy to get swamped in cameras that you buy for a project that then doesn't happen straight away. Adapting MF lenses to LF cameras is usually as easy as robbing a lens mount off a broken body and bolting it to a lens board. Adding a shutter is another matter, unless you are happy with a single speed shutter hanging off the front or back. Good luck with the project anyway.

100-135mm Soft-Focus Lenses to "Barely" Cover 6x12cm??

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